Thursday, May 28, 2009
Java, rogue robots and the kit of parts survey
Good Afternoon Teams,
I’m back from a very interesting trip taken in the interests of FIRST. There’s nothing I can tell you about that yet (stay tuned) but I do have a few loose ends to share this week.
Keep an eye out for the annual FIRST Kit of Parts Survey coming soon. An email blast will be sent to all team main contacts when it’s ready, please encourage them to share the survey with your team when they get it. I want to know what you think.
Logo loc has some used Orbit balls left. They’re going to run out of Super Cells and Empty Cells any minute now, so if you plan to run an off season event or demonstration this summer, get your order in soon.
We’ve figured out why some robots moved before the start of their match or behaved oddly during the season. If a robot links to the field before the FMS has linked with the driver station, there is a short time in which the robot program might see "enabled/teleop" or "enabled/autonomous" before the match actually starts. This can affect teams that coded their robot to expect Autonomous mode to always precede Teleop and cause their robot to make a false start or behave in unexpected ways. We’re going to work on the FMS side of this equation over the summer. What you can do is check your robot program to make sure you haven’t programmed your robot to require autonomous code to run before teleop code.
Have you checked out the Java website? Do you have questions or an opinion? Share your thoughts on the FIRST Java forum at
226 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!
Posted by Bill at 4:35 PM5 commentsLinks to this post
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
What next year might look like
Good Afternoon Teams,
Here at headquarters, we’re putting a lot of thought into the future of FRC. We’re well aware that times are tough for teams and we want you to succeed so we’re looking at how we can keep FRC affordable without losing the elements that make FIRST special and unique. We’re re-examining almost everything with an eye toward keeping the magic, maintaining our quality and continuing to offer the FRC experience without breaking the bank.
A lot of really great material shows up every year in your FRC kit of parts. Please respect the manufacturers of these materials and don’t resell hardware and don’t share software outside your team. If a piece of software isn’t open source, selling or giving away copies violates the usage agreement and can be prosecuted by the manufacturer. Not to mention, it makes FIRST look bad.
241 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!
Posted by Bill at 4:10 PM2 commentsLinks to this post
Wednesday, May 6, 2009
I'm back
Good Afternoon Teams,
Some of you may have noticed a button I wore proudly at Championship. No Robot Left Behind. As you are all well aware FRC introduced a new control system in 2009. With 1680 teams starting from scratch it made for a challenging build season. The onsite Robot Inspectors tell me every team attending an FRC event, no matter the state of their robot when they arrived, was able to get out on the field and compete during that event. I want to thank National Instruments for their onsite help during the season and I want to thank all of you for sharing what you learned and offering assistance to other teams. With all that support, no robot was left behind.
What you may not have noticed at Championship is an absence I am also delighted to share. We heard you loud and clear when teams responded to last year’s team survey. You told us there were too many opportunities for penalties in Overdrive. The Game Design Committee and the Referees took your comments to heart and designed Lunacy accordingly. There were fewer actions and conditions that could be penalized in Lunacy and no penalties were awarded on Einstein this year. When the team survey is ready this year I hope you’ll take the time to let us know what you think. I’ll send an email blast to teams the minute it’s ready.
Speaking of the Game Design Committee, we met on Monday and there is nothing I can report (lots that I know, but nothing I can share – yet).
And if you have time over the summer, you can start thinking about next year. We announced at Championship that teams may program their robot using Java in 2010 if they choose. If you’re ready, you can learn more here. We’ll keep updating the site as we finalize the rules.
248 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!
Posted by Bill at 3:31 PM0 commentsLinks to this post
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
I'm on vacation
but I'll be back next week.
256 days until the 2010 kickoff,
See you then!
Posted by Bill at 8:19 AM0 comments
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
I'm back and ready to go
Good Morning Teams,
I’ve been so busy this past week at Championship reviewing our options for the future with the board of directors, brainstorming with the Game Design Committee (perhaps a water game?), meeting with our major donors, and ensuring everything happening on the fields and in the pits ran smoothly, that I didn’t have any time left over to let you know what I was up to. But the entire event went smoothly, I have found time to get a full night’s sleep and now I’m back and already excited about 2010.
For those of you who didn’t attend Championship, or see the press announcements, WPI and Sun Microsystems will make Java available as an additional programming language option for FRC teams in 2010. This collaboration is in the early stages, so I’ll post more information as it becomes available.
For those of you who left Championship after the final match, you might be interested to know that the staff and many dedicated volunteers spent the rest of the night breaking down all seven fields, packing up the left over supplies and loading everything onto six tractor trailer trucks. The last truck left the Georgia Dome just after 11:30PM Saturday night and the staff flew home exhausted Sunday morning.
Everything has been unloaded into our warehouse in Merrimack, NH, and the real work is about to begin. Each of the 14 onsite FRC fields will be unpacked, repaired where necessary and refurbished. Then, once the game design reaches the final stages, each field will be updated to include new elements. We’ll also inventory parts, repair and update the road cases used to transport the fields, and set up one full field in the basement at 200 Bedford Street for Game Design.
If you haven’t had enough of Lunacy, check out the community events page on our website. Lots of team hold invitational events over the summer. Some borrow the official FRC fields (contact for more details), some use the fields owned by NASA, and some use their own fields, but all invitational events provide teams with another chance to compete. If you’re holding an Invitational event, please give a heads up. We’d like to know what you’re up to, even if you don’t have room for any more teams and it would be great if we could get potential mentors, future team members and possible sponsors, to visit an invitational event in their area. FRC is something you have to see to believe.
260 days until the 2010 Kickoff
See you there!
Posted by Bill at 11:38 AM0 commentsLinks to this post
Friday, April 10, 2009
We're getting ready
Good MorningTeams,
I know it’s been a while since I’ve had a minute to write, but if you could see the activity here at headquarters, I think you’d understand. Have you ever considered what it takes to run Championship? FRC sets up seven playing fields every year (five in the dome and two practice fields in the pits). Six of those fields come directly from regional events (Lone Star, Las Vegas, 10,000 Lakes, Palmetto, Michigan and Sacramento this year). The seventh field spent the season in storage in Tennessee prepared to ship at a moment’s notice in case anything happened to a field as it traveled the country from regional event to regional event. (I’ll bet you didn’t know that). But seven fields are only the beginning. Two more tractor trailer trucks will leave headquarters today packed to the roof with supplies for pit administration, the hall of fame, scholarship row, judges, referees, FLL, FTC and all the high level meetings that happen in the background during the three days of competition. Early next week, additional trucks will deliver new carpet, new regolith and everything it takes to set up the AV systems, pits, machine shops, opening and closing ceremonies, and FIRST Finale.
Almost everything we need is staged on the third floor right now and there’s hardly enough room to move around. Staff are packing last minute items and figuring out the most efficient way to fit everything into the truck. Early this morning the staff will begin loading trucks, then we’re off. The first staff members fly down late Sunday. Monday the final pre event meetings happen, rigging is flown in the dome and electrical drops are put in place. Tuesday the drapes go up, the first fields are constructed and everything that arrived on a truck is delivered to where it’s needed. Wednesday is our last chance to get everything finished in time for teams to enter the pits for load in at 6PM. It’s going to take almost three days and an astonishing number of people to get everything set up.
With luck the number of FRC teams may work out perfectly this year. At the moment we have 348 teams registered to attend. That works out to 87 teams in each division and 29 complete alliances. There will be time for each team to play 7 qualifying rounds on Friday. Remember if you can’t make it to Atlanta, you can still watch the action live thanks to NASA. Details on viewing either the webcast or NASA TV is available here.
If you’re coming to Championship, I invite you to stop by the FRC Future Technology booth in the pit area and to join us in the FRC New Technology Showcase Thursday at 5pm (tickets sponsored by Rolls Royce) to see what’s in store. We’re also offering a free FRC Control System forum Thursday 6:30-8:00 where you can hear from our team and share your ideas and experiences. If you can’t make it to either of these talks on Thursday, we’ll repeat a combination of both events Friday 11:00-12:00.
Due to the difficult economic conditions, FIRST is encouraging all teams that want to take their robot directly home to do so. This will lessen the financial impact on our valued sponsor FedEx, and also allow you to have quicker access to your robot. Please note the same rules apply regarding getting your crate back home and the "no use" of the loading docks. Teams attending Championship will receive an email blast soon with more details
And the 2009 FIRST Championship is on Twitter!
5 days until Championship,
See you there!
P.S. LV Mastery is offering LabVIEW hints, tips and tricks specifically designed for FRC teams. Check out their free video blogs for FRC teams
Posted by Bill at 8:59 AM0 commentsLinks to this post
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
Michigan teams attending Championship
Good Morning Teams,
As you are probably aware, 134 Michigan teams spent the last year engaged in a pilot program trying out a variety of measures exploring possible cost reductions for FRC teams; smaller venues, shorter events, fewer amenities at the events, etc . The final decision on which measures may be instituted next year is still being evaluated.
Michigan teams attending the FIRST Championship in Atlanta, GA will not be permitted a fix it window following the Michigan State Championship. Robots must be bagged immediately after the event and crated for shipping as soon as possible. Crated robots must then be delivered to drayage before 5PM on Tuesday, April 7th for delivery to Atlanta.
I thank you all for your patience and understanding as we complete the pilot process and begin to examine the lessons learned.
13 days until Championship,
See you there!
Posted by Bill at 1:32 PM1 commentsLinks to this post
Week 5
Good Morning Teams,
Week 5 has come and gone and thanks to the efforts of the volunteers at each of the 12 events this past weekend, we were able to run on or ahead of schedule. Even the Colorado Regional which was hit by a snowstorm and had to shut down on Thursday, got up and running Friday and finished on time Saturday night.
Here at FIRST we’re always striving for continuous improvement. Week one we learned of the static discharge situation at some of our venues. We tried a variety of solutions in real time that weekend, then spent the following week testing and improving our SD hypotheses and looking for ways to improve the field set up and scoring. Week two had fewer issues, we made some more adjustments and by week three things were running pretty smoothly. I want to thank those teams that keep up with this Blog and with the Team Updates who arrived at their Regional prepared with the equipment I asked you to bring and aware of FMS hook up sequence I described. You helped make a difference.
If you’re considering making internal modifications your driver station yourself (not officially sanctioned), you should know that Kwikbyte, the supplier of the Driver Stations, won’t honor the warranty if you break the seal. There are no user serviceable parts inside. The Ethernet chip requires specialized tools to solder.
FYI: We’re thinking about opening the FRC pits at Championship at 7:15 on Thursday morning to provide teams with some additional time to prepare for WPA encryption. We will have multiple WPA stations, but there are a still a lot of teams and a limited number of volunteers, so please encrypt your radio as soon as you can.
14 days until Championship,
I’ll see you there!
Posted by Bill at 8:39 AM0 commentsLinks to this post
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Week 4
Good Morning Teams,
Week 4 is over and I want to congratulate and thank everyone who participated. An amazing number of volunteers put in a lot of time to make these events run. If you are a volunteer, thank you. If you’re on a team, please take a moment to let these volunteers and your mentors know you appreciate all that they do.
Here at FIRST we are busy getting ready for the 10 Regional and 2 District Events in week 5, but we’re also turning our attention to Championship. Here’s a few things you might want to know if you’re planning on attending:
There are changes to what teams may carry in and what teams are encouraged to do during the Wednesday night pit entry for uncrating from 6-9PM. Read Team update #19 for details.
The Suppliers’ Showcase will return again this year. Stop by and check out their displays. This is a great time to ask questions, find out what’s new and thank the suppliers for their support to teams.
Scholarship row will be inside the conference hall, next to the FIRST student lounge. With representatives from 26 colleges and universities on hand it’s a great opportunity to learn more about opportunities available after High School.
22 days until Championship,
I’ll see you there!
Posted by Bill at 3:12 PM0 commentsLinks to this post
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
week 3
Good Afternoon Teams,
Another week of Regional events has passed and we are another week closer to Championship. As you prepare for your regional or look forward to the Championship, I want to share a few things.
Please make sure your robot is running the newest software revisions before you get to your next event. You won’t pass robot inspection if you’re running an older version. You can find the latest versions here and save valuable time by down loading them right away.
Also, don’t forget to bring what you need to monitor your robot’s battery voltage at your next event. Be sure to pack the NI 9201 analog module, the analog expansion board, and a jumper and power connection. Being able to monitor your robot’s battery voltage isn’t just required for it will also help your team with diagnostics and troubleshooting.
If you’re planning to hold or attend an invitational event after the official season ends, get ready, surviving orbit balls will go on sale at Logoloc.com shortly after Championship.
28 days until Championship,
I’ll see you there!
Posted by Bill at 3:40 PM0 commentsLinks to this post
Monday, March 9, 2009
Week 2
Good Morning Teams,
We’ve completed another week of Regional Events and the play just gets better and better. Creative robot designs, close scores, and last minute comebacks make the competition lots of fun to watch this year. I want to offer teams my compliments on their creativity and sportsmanship and express my gratitude to the multitude of volunteers who make these events possible. Thank you everyone for a fun and exciting season.
Here’s what’s happening behind the scenes after week two.
We’re still working to get a grip on the static discharge issue. The simplest solution appears to be to wet the edges of the carpet to allow the robots to discharge static before they impact the metal sides of the field. Unfortunately, wetting the carpet may cause an issue for those of you who have made arrangements with your Regional Director to pick up the carpet and flooring after a Regional event. Be advised, the carpet may be damp.
We plan to continue reviewing the challenges from week one and two in an attempt to reduce the number of replays happening at each event. FIRST staff and key volunteers have been streamlining the process of connecting robots to the field, troubleshooting the Field Management System, and keeping an eye on team experiences with the components of the new control system. Thank you for your patience as we address this issue in real time.
I need to remind all of you that the field you play on this week will be packed up at the end of the event and delivered to another Regional or District Event later in the season. Please lend us a hand in making sure all the equipment gets back on the truck so that teams can compete next week. If, at the end of a competition, you find something that didn’t make it back on the truck, please let your Regional Director know you have it. There’s a good chance it’s needed at the next event.
37 Days until Championship
See you there!